Held the 2nd Saturday of each month, this Beer Babes school is a tutorial for women into the lives of various types of beer, including a variety of tastings to help the lesson sink in better. Our fearless teacher, Preston, continued the learning with a focus on IPA style beers.

For this event, we did add in a ‘bring an appetizer or snack to bolster you’ note for all participants. I actually made some for the group, which you can check out (they paired AWEsome with the Ghost Hop and Death by Hops, in particular) here (Asparagus & BBQ Rumaki, and Island Chicken Kotopitas)!

Charlotte Beer Babes Try Out IPAs and Appetizers!

IPA History:
First off, IPA styles came about in the 1800s when India was a British Colony. British soldiers stationed in India complained because the beer tasted horrid when it reached them in-country via shipping vessels. The brewers started adding extra hops, which were known for preservation, and sending over to India-residing troops. The original name of this style of beer was, wait for it…. “Pale Ale as prepared for India”. Yup. That mouthful was the full name. Kind of reminiscent of the mouthful of hops it contained, when you think about it, huh?!?

So next, the soldiers return to England and, after drinking PAAPFI for so long, they started requesting it at their British pubs back home. In 1835, George Hodgson of Bow Brewery started making IPA officially…at a whopping 4% ABV! And from there, IPA exploded like the hop-flavor it’s known for!

Fun fact, the human palate can only process up to or around 120 IBUs. After that it’s hard or impossible to distinguish. (Any error in that statement is mine, as my shorthand notes could just suck.)

So on to the beers that we tasted! Being in North Carolina, with an ABV limit, we had a little bit of limitation on our selection, but thankfully there is such a wide selection within NC standards, that we had 6 wonderful options presented to us by Preston!

1) Dogfish Head‘s 60-Minute IPA: this brew is extra-hopped, 1 extra hop addition every minute for an hour, to be precise! This English-style IPA has a very citrusy and grassy flavor and aroma, and a 6% ABV & 60 IBU profile are evident in this delicious and hoppy treat.

2) Noda Brewing Company‘s Ghost Hop: this white IPA is made with witbier yeast and Northwest hops to give a citrus and pine aroma for this light and hoppy beer. Coming in at 5.9% ABV with 70 IBUs and an SRM of 3.7, this is definitely a unique and delicious choice for hop-loving beer drinkers that also like lighter citrus flavors.

3) Uinta Brewing‘s Dubhe: this Imperial Black IPA was delicious, and probably my favorite of the bunch. Toasted malt, chocolate and hemp seed flavors united beautifully with a strong hoppiness for this dark IPA, which comes in at 9.2% ABV, 109 IBUs and with an SRM of 110! This is more a beer that those who like porters and stouts would enjoy, versus the lighter ales and lagers. However it is definitely one that I think most would enjoy on a cool winter’s eve when you want something hearty yet hoppy!

4) Olde Hickory Brewery‘s Death By Hops: with 7% ABV and 108 IBUs, this incredibly hoppy American-style IPA contains 20 grams of hops per pint! The brew gets 71 pounds of hops added to it throughout the process, and leaves a very hoppy and citrusy flavor, with a lightly piney aroma, in the finished product.

5) Noda Brewing Company‘s Noda RyeZ’ed: this double rye IPA is a spicy and 7-hop-blend creation by Charlotte’s own Noda Brewing Company. This is one of my favorite Rye IPA’s that I’ve tasted, as it has a zing of spice, a hoppy flavor that intertwines with the spice, and an aroma that has hops and spice in it. This is a beer that is 8.65% ABV, with 90 IBUs and an SRM of 12. Definitely worth trying!

And the final beer we tried was….

6) Green Flash‘s Imperial IPA: this San Diego-bred beer is 9.4% ABV with 101 IBUs to it. This beer had an intense pine aroma, and a very hoppy and citrusy flavor. It is in the style of the “San Diego IPA”, a new subset of American IPAs, which is a beer that’s “pale in color, super-hoppy, high-gravity, yet a highly quaffable ale”. This was a pretty intense hop session in your mouth, not going to lie, and it was definitely a good note to end the class on IPAs with for the day!

So that is today’s entry, and I sincerely hope you enjoyed it! I know those of us at the event had a blast (including with Dad-tuck-interloper-dude’s wonderful distraction), and we all cannot wait for the next class, September’s Belgian Beer Course! Hope to see you there ladies!

Back to the beer for today. When I was at Noda Brewing Company on Sunday for the viewing, I got another 4-beer sampler of Noda Beers to try out! Having previously tried 4 of their brews, and not yet finding one that I didn’t like, I decided to be adventurous again. Please, contain your shock, I know it’s a lot to take in, but I trust you can handle it…

First up to bat:

TriUmphant Belgian Style Tripel: ABV 9.7% IBU 35 SRM 6.8

TriUmphant, indeed. This was a heavier “lighter-bodied” beer, if that makes any sense. This brew had a definite “belgian” taste to it, that I really enjoyed. I had to take a few sips of this one to try to narrow the flavor down, and I really didn’t get it quite figured out until I read this from the Noda website, which nails this beer flavor perfectly: “[with] enough Belgian candi-sugar to make an Umpalumpa blush”. That is exactly it! With a little bit of malted citrus (think of that as a candy, I dare you!), but just a TINY hint, to round out the flavor.

Second at bat:

Hop, Drop ‘n Roll IPA: ABV 7.2% SRM 9.7 IBU 80

Can we say hops? And one more time, please! This is a hoppylicious concoction of lighter-bodied ale that had a hint of citrus, but not too much. Mostly it was just Hop Hop Hopping along. (Quit groaning, you chuckled, you know you did, so just admit it already!)

Third to bat:

NoDaRyeZ’d Double Rye IPA: ABV 8.65% SRM 12 IBU 90

I am not really experienced with the Rye Ales, however I have to say the flavoring on this Double Rye added some zing and pizazz to my beer drinking palate: malt with a bit of a bite to it. This was really good, not that I’m surprised with Noda, but hey – new kind of beer, you never know!

Fourth for the home run:

Coco Loco Porter: ABV 6.2% SRM 32 IBU 40

I actually have had this beer before, but as it was my favorite last time, and I had only 3 “new” beers to try, I had to get this one again. Dessert-esque beer goodness? Yes, please!!! Chocolate undertones, and toasted roasted coconut goodness, with the wonder of a porter? BRING IT ON. I mean it, where is my Coco Loco beer, seriously?!? Slacking, I tell you, so sad.

If you didn’t notice, I really like this brewery. I also would like to say they freaking rock extra now, because I totally (first time EVER) left my debit card there (that whole “start a tab” totally bit me for real!), and since it was Sunday and the Tap Room is closed on Monday (EEK!!!!) I was a bit freaking out (Todd & Suzie: thank you guys for NOT smacking me for that!) that I wasn’t going to have my lifebloo—debit card until Tuesday. NOOOO! So Suzie called me back (you know I had to call and leave a probably-groan-worthy-annoying-to-boot message about my foible with them in an attempt to find the thing), and let me know that I could swing by because someone was there “right now” that would wait for me until I could come get it (since I work 15 mins away and all). HOW SWEET?!?! How awesome?!?! I seriously will forever be a fan of Noda solely because they didn’t call me an idiot for this (me doing it NOR me freaking about it), despite such open opportunity for it! Pretty sure Todd wanted to pat me on the head a few times and tell me to breathe, though, haha… 😉 But anyways, they rock, I heart them dearly, their beer is awesome, and I swear I will never do that tab-and-leave thing again!!!

So now that my Beer Log for Noda Brews is done, complete with a shake-your-head-ruefully story, I hope you all have a wonderful week , and let me know if you have any beer recommendations for me to try and ‘review’!